ASP Isotopes Inc. Starts Commercial Production of Enriched Silicon-28 at Enrichment Facility

Insider Brief

• ASP Isotopes Inc. has begun commercial production of enriched Silicon-28 at its second Aerodynamic Separation Process facility in Pretoria, South Africa.
• Enriched Silicon-28, which lacks nuclear spin, is considered essential for next-generation semiconductors and quantum computing due to its reduced quantum decoherence and superior thermal conductivity.
• The company has signed two U.S. supply agreements and expects to begin commercial shipments in Q2 2025, with additional customer agreements under negotiation.

PRESS RELEASE — ASP Isotopes Inc. NASDAQ: ASPI, an advanced materials company dedicated to the development of technology and processes for the production of isotopes for use in multiple industries, today announced that it has started commercial production of enriched Silicon-28 at its second Aerodynamic Separation Process (ASP) enrichment facility in Pretoria, South Africa.

Many researchers believe that highly enriched Silicon-28 will be required by manufacturers of next-generation semiconductors. Naturally occurring Silicon has three isotopes – 28, 29 and 30. The 29 isotope has a ½ positive spin, which is an intrinsic form of angular momentum carried by elementary particles. In contrast, highly enriched Silicon-28 is spin-free where qubits are protected from sources of decoherence that causes loss of quantum information⁽¹⁾. In addition to its potential to process superior information such as qubits, it is believed that highly enriched Silicon-28 can conduct heat 150% more efficiently⁽²⁾ than natural Silicon, which will potentially allow for chips to become smaller, faster and cooler.

ASP Isotopes’ proprietary technology can enrich isotopes of low atomic mass (such as silane (SiH4), molecular mass of 32), as well as isotopes of heavier masses. Other companies developing methods to enrich silicon generally either enrich silicon tetrafluoride (SiF4) or a halo silane. Neither of these chemicals can be used directly by a semiconductor company and require chemical converting processes that potentially harm the purity of the final product. By processing silane directly, the Company believes that its finished product will be a higher quality and may be used by semiconductor companies without the need for additional chemical conversion processes.

“To create faster, smaller next-generation semiconductors, the world is likely going to require materials that are currently not available in commercial quantities”, said Paul Mann, ASP Isotopes’ Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “ASP Isotopes is currently working on many isotopically pure elements that we believe will help semiconductor companies create the chips that the world will require in the future to enable technologies such as quantum computing and artificial intelligence.”

The Company has previously announced that it has entered into two supply agreements with U.S.-based customers for highly enriched Silicon-28. The first is with a U.S.-based semiconductor company. The second is with a U.S.-based industrial gas company. The Company is currently in discussions with multiple other potential customers for the supply of highly enriched Silicon-28 and expects to sign more supply agreements during the next six months. The Company anticipates shipping the first commercial batches of highly enriched Silicon-28 during the second quarter of 2025.

(1) Isotopically Enriched Layers for Quantum Computers Formed by 28Si Implantation and Layer Exchange, Schneider, E and England, J; ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2023, 15, 17, 21609–21617
(2) Penghong Ci, Muhua Sun, Meenakshi Upadhyaya, Houfu Song, Lei Jin, Bo Sun, Matthew R. Jones, Joel W. Ager, Zlatan Aksamija, and Junqiao Wu Phys. Rev. Lett. 128, 085901 – Published 23 February 2022